Piano-pedal.



R. HOPE-JONES.

PIANO PEDAL.

APPLIGATION FILED APR. 21. 1911.

Patented Mar. 3, 1914.

1 VII/all? COLUMBIA PLANOGRAPH CO-.\VASHINGTON. 1:, c.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ROBERT HOPE-JONES, OF NORTH TONAWANDA, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR TO THE RUDOLPH WURLITZER MANUFACTURING COMPANY, OF NORTH. TONAWANDA, NEW YORK, A CORPORATION OF NEW YORK.

PIANO-PEDAL.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Mar. 3, 1914.

Application filed April 21, 1911. Serial No. 622,503.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, ROBERT HOPE-J ONES, a subject of the King of England, residing at North Tonawanda, in the county of Niagara and State of New York, have invented new and useful Improvements in PianoPedals, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to the expression devices of pianos and similar instruments. Its object is the improvement of the softpedal mechanism with a vieW to increasing its range of expression, and the invention consists essentially in combining with the soft pedal a yieldable stop which permits a partial depression of said pedal by an initial or light pressure to produce one shade of soft playing, say piano, and allows a further depression of said pedal by a final or heavier pressure to produce a second shade of expression, say pianissimo. This improved expression device may therefore be termed a double-touch soft pedal.

In the accompanying drawings: Figure 1 is a sectional front elevation of a piano embodying the invention. Fig. 2 is a frag mentary horizontal section on line 22, Fig. 1. Fig. 8 is an enlarged sectional elevation of the soft pedal mechanism corresponding to Fig. 1. Fig. 4c is a fragmentary side elevation of the piano action and the hammer rest-rail.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts throughout the several views.

The piano action A and the loud pedal B and associated parts may be of any ordinary construction and form no part of the present invention.

0 indicates the hammer-rest-rail which may be of any suitable construction but preferably has a somewhat longer stroke than is ordinarily the case. In the construction shown, the rail is carried by the customary verticallyswinging arms (Z pivoted at d to the usual standards E, one of which is shown in the drawings.

F indicates the soft pedal which may be pivoted to the floor of the piano case in the ordinary manner, 9 is the usual rock lever actuated by said pedal and h the rod which transmits motion from said lever to the hammer-restrail. This pedal is held in its normal or uppermost position by the customary comparatively light spring 2'. The

parts F, g and it constitute What may be termed the soft pedal mechanism. Associated with said mechanism is a yieldable stop which is normally out of action but arranged to be encountered by a part of said mechanism after a partial or initial depression of the pedal and which stop must be overcome by a heavier pressure upon the pedal in order to further depress the latter. In its preferred form, this stop consists of a vertically-swinging arm or lever J having its free end arranged underneath the front arm of the lever g, its other end being pivoted to the floor of the piano-case at j. Bearing against the underside of said stop lever is a spring is of greater resistance than the pedal-spring 2'. The upward movement of the stop is limited by a headed screw Z projecting from the floor of the piano-case and passing through the free end of said lever, or by any other suitable means. Preferably the stitf spring 72 is under partial tension in the elevated position of the stop lever, and in this normal position said lever is located a sufficient distance below the lever 9 to permit a partial depression or approximately half-stroke of the soft pedal before the stop lever is encountered by the lever 9. The opposing sides of these levers may be provided with contact-facings m of felt or other suitable material.

In the use of the improvement, when the performer desires the instrument to play with an ordinary degree of softness, say piano, he depresses the soft-pedal until he feels the resistance of the stoplever J. By this movement, the hammer-rest-rail is moved toward the strings the distance of about half or other desired fraction of its full stroke, shortening the stroke of the hammers accordingly. To further subdue the tone, say to produce a pianissimo effect, the player exerts a heavier pressure upon the soft pedal sufficient to overcome the resistance of the spring-pressed stop-lever, thus further reducing the stroke of the hammers, the performer by slight practice becoming accustomed to this double touch of the soft pedal.

While affording a. wider range of expression, the improvement does not complicate the instrument or materially increase its cost and its construction is such that it is readily applicable to existing as well as new instruments.

pressed stop-lever arranged in the path of said intermediate lever but normally out of contact therewith, whereby the intermediate lever may be partly depressed before encountering the stop lever.

3. The combination of the hammer-restrail, the soft pedal for actuating said rail, a comparatively light spring for holding the pedal in its highest position, an intermediate lever operatively connected with the pedal and said rail, a stop-lever arranged underneath said intermediate lever and normally spaced therefrom to permit a free initial movement of said lever, and a relatively heavy spring cooperating with said lever to resist depression thereof.

4:. The combination of the hammer-restrail, the soft pedal for actuating said rail, a comparatively light spring for holding the pedal in its highest position, an intermediate lever operatively connected with the pedal and said rail, a stop-lever arranged underneath said intermediate lever and normally spaced therefrom to permit a free initial movement of said lever, a. relatively heavy spring cooperating with said lever to resist depression thereof, and means for limiting the upward movement of said stop-lever under pressure of its spring.

Vitness my hand this 17th day of April, 1911.

ROBERT HOPE-JONES.

lVitnesses C. F. GEYER, E. M. GRAHAM.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. 0. 

